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thisfinecrewUPDATE: News sites are reporting that Puzder has withdrawn himself from consideration.
Alert for people in MAINE, ALASKA, SOUTH CAROLINA and GEORGIA: Four Republican senators in your states -- Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Johnny Isakson of Georgia -- are holding off on expressing support for Puzder. All four sit on the Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pensions committee which is holding the hearing into Puzder's nomination. Please call them if you can to voice your objections!
Nomination of Andrew Puzder to serve as Secretary of Labor
When: Thursday 16 February 2017 from 10.00am
Committee Members: (as at 20 Jan) Chairman: Senator Lamar Alexander (TN), Senator Michael B. Enzi (R - WY), Senator Richard Burr (R - NC), Senator Johnny Isakson (R - GA), Senator Rand Paul (R - KY), Senator Susan M. Collins (R - ME), Senator Bill Cassidy (R - LA), Senator Todd Young (R - IN), Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R- UT), Senator Pat Roberts (R - KS), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R - AK), Senator Tim Scott (R - SC), Ranking Member: Senator Patty Murray (D - WA), Senator Bernard Sanders (D - VT), Senator Robert P. Casey (D - PA), Senator Al Franken (D - MN), Senator Michael F. Bennet (D - CO), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D - RI), Senator Tammy Baldwin (D - WI), Senator Christopher Murphy (D - CT), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D - MA), Senator Tim Kaine (D - VA), Senator Margaret Wood Hassan (D - NH)
What the committee should be concerned about: Andrew Puzder is the CEO of CKE Restaurants, which runs a number of restaurant franchises, including Carl's Jr. and Hardee's. His committee hearing has been delayed several times because of issues with the plan for divesting his holdings in CKE Restaurants.
Puzder has been described as "a man whose business record is defined by fighting against working people" by the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. (the federation of labour unions). In particular, he has criticised both expanding overtime pay for around 4 million low-paid workers and paid sick leave policies of the sort recently enacted for federal contractors. He has also blamed the ACA for creating a "restaurant recession", claiming rising premiums have left people with less money for dining out.
As labor secretary, Mr. Puzder would oversee the federal apparatus that investigates violations of minimum wage, overtime and worker safety laws and regulations. While inspections in the fast food industry are common, around 60% of the investigations into Carl’s Jr. stores over the past seven years found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Most of these stores were owned and operated by franchisees, not CKE itself but, not surprisingly, Puzder is opposed to the "joint employer doctrine" promoted by the Obama administration, which holds companies hiring franchisees and contractors to be jointly responsible for their actions.
Puzder also has a track record of sexism, defending ads run by his company that feature scantily-clad women. In his personal life, he was accused of domestic violence by his ex-wife during divorce proceedings, although she later withdrew the accusation, and found guilty of employing an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper.
Suggested script for calling representatives:"Hi, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent of the Senator. I want to let the Senator know that I object to Andrew Puzder as the next Secretary of Labor because of his track record of opposing workers' rights legislation and the way he has tolerated violations of federal and state laws in the stores franchised by his company. He has also employed an undocumented immigrant as his housekeeper, something which has barred past nominees from taking office. Mr Puzder's disdain for labor laws in both his professional and personal life make him unsuited to leading a department concerned with overseeing those laws, and he should therefore not be our next Secretary of Labor.
Please use the comments to suggest more reasons why the committee should reject the nomination and to suggest amendments to the calling script.
Housekeeping note: There is a third hearing scheduled for Thursday 16 Feb at 10am, in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, into the nomination of David Friedman to be Ambassador to Israel. I don't feel qualified to comment on the issues around that appointment, so I won't be making a post. If anyone else wants to make a post, please feel free to do so.
Alert for people in MAINE, ALASKA, SOUTH CAROLINA and GEORGIA: Four Republican senators in your states -- Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Johnny Isakson of Georgia -- are holding off on expressing support for Puzder. All four sit on the Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pensions committee which is holding the hearing into Puzder's nomination. Please call them if you can to voice your objections!
Nomination of Andrew Puzder to serve as Secretary of Labor
When: Thursday 16 February 2017 from 10.00am
Committee Members: (as at 20 Jan) Chairman: Senator Lamar Alexander (TN), Senator Michael B. Enzi (R - WY), Senator Richard Burr (R - NC), Senator Johnny Isakson (R - GA), Senator Rand Paul (R - KY), Senator Susan M. Collins (R - ME), Senator Bill Cassidy (R - LA), Senator Todd Young (R - IN), Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R- UT), Senator Pat Roberts (R - KS), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R - AK), Senator Tim Scott (R - SC), Ranking Member: Senator Patty Murray (D - WA), Senator Bernard Sanders (D - VT), Senator Robert P. Casey (D - PA), Senator Al Franken (D - MN), Senator Michael F. Bennet (D - CO), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D - RI), Senator Tammy Baldwin (D - WI), Senator Christopher Murphy (D - CT), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D - MA), Senator Tim Kaine (D - VA), Senator Margaret Wood Hassan (D - NH)
What the committee should be concerned about: Andrew Puzder is the CEO of CKE Restaurants, which runs a number of restaurant franchises, including Carl's Jr. and Hardee's. His committee hearing has been delayed several times because of issues with the plan for divesting his holdings in CKE Restaurants.
Puzder has been described as "a man whose business record is defined by fighting against working people" by the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. (the federation of labour unions). In particular, he has criticised both expanding overtime pay for around 4 million low-paid workers and paid sick leave policies of the sort recently enacted for federal contractors. He has also blamed the ACA for creating a "restaurant recession", claiming rising premiums have left people with less money for dining out.
As labor secretary, Mr. Puzder would oversee the federal apparatus that investigates violations of minimum wage, overtime and worker safety laws and regulations. While inspections in the fast food industry are common, around 60% of the investigations into Carl’s Jr. stores over the past seven years found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Most of these stores were owned and operated by franchisees, not CKE itself but, not surprisingly, Puzder is opposed to the "joint employer doctrine" promoted by the Obama administration, which holds companies hiring franchisees and contractors to be jointly responsible for their actions.
Puzder also has a track record of sexism, defending ads run by his company that feature scantily-clad women. In his personal life, he was accused of domestic violence by his ex-wife during divorce proceedings, although she later withdrew the accusation, and found guilty of employing an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper.
Suggested script for calling representatives:"Hi, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent of the Senator. I want to let the Senator know that I object to Andrew Puzder as the next Secretary of Labor because of his track record of opposing workers' rights legislation and the way he has tolerated violations of federal and state laws in the stores franchised by his company. He has also employed an undocumented immigrant as his housekeeper, something which has barred past nominees from taking office. Mr Puzder's disdain for labor laws in both his professional and personal life make him unsuited to leading a department concerned with overseeing those laws, and he should therefore not be our next Secretary of Labor.
Please use the comments to suggest more reasons why the committee should reject the nomination and to suggest amendments to the calling script.
Housekeeping note: There is a third hearing scheduled for Thursday 16 Feb at 10am, in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, into the nomination of David Friedman to be Ambassador to Israel. I don't feel qualified to comment on the issues around that appointment, so I won't be making a post. If anyone else wants to make a post, please feel free to do so.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-15 03:47 pm (UTC)http://us14.campaign-archive2.com/?u=34bf9c62b5c76a26e2e6e912d&id=9affc91cd0&e=99daec9ba0
no subject
Date: 2017-02-16 12:18 am (UTC)